Toy weapon



J. BONNETT TOY WEAPON Sept. 14, 1937.

Filed March 19, 1936 v INVENTOR John BonneH ATTORNEYS I Patented Sept.14, 1937 PATENT OFFICE 2,092,812 'ror WEAPON John Bonnett, Girard Pa.,alllgnor Marx to mull a Company, Inc, New York, N. Y., a corporation ofNew York Application Mil-ch 19, 19st, Serial No. cam

weapons, and a miniature toy pistol of One object of my invention is togenerally improve toy weapons. More particularly, the object of myinvention is to provide a tiny, compact, vest-pocket size toy gunresembling an automatic pistol and having spring motor driven mechanismfor-producing a loud, rapidly repeated percussive noise and a copiousshower of sparks at the muzzle of the pistol, the operation being fullycomparable in loudness and realism to that of relatively large toymachine guns and the like.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing general objects and numerousother more detailed objects which will hereinafter appear, my inventionconsists in the toy pistol elements and their relation one to the other,as are hereinafter more particularly described in the speciflcation andsought to be defined in theclaims. The specification is accompanied bydrawing in which: h

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a toy pistol embodying features of myinvention;

Fig. 2 shows the same with one half of the two-part casing removed; 7

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 8-3 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the closure for access to the flintof the sparking mechanism; Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken in theplane of the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, and is explanatory of the assembly ofthe motor frame and pistol casing, with the working parts omitted:

Fig. '6 is an inverted plan view explanatory of the trigger mechanism;and

Fig. 7 is a section taken in the plane of the I line 1-.1 of Fig. 2.

Referring to'the drawing, the pistol comprises an outer body or casinghaving a barrel portion B and a handle portion H. The barrel portion isprovided with a motor M, the parts of which are carried by a motor frameF, which substantially fills the entire barrel portion of the gun. Themotor is used to. drive sparking mechanism generally designated 8 andnoise-making mechanism generally designated N. The motor is started andstopped by suitable trigger mechanism '1.

Considering the arrangement in greater detail,

the. complete casing of the pistol is formed of two main parts or sidesI! and I4, these sides being dished or flanged toward one another andbrought into abutting or edge to edge relation 16 Claims. (01. 40-10) toform both the barrel and handle portions of the The inturned flanges itof the side walls are continuous except for an interruption to form atrigger opening ll (l 'lg. 2). At the forward end of the gun the flangesare turned 5 outwardly in cylindrical configuration to form a muzzleopening 22. The halves of the casing are held together by suitabletongue and slot connections 24 best shown in Fig. 1, in which they havebeen exaggerated in dimension for clarity. 10 The sides of the casingwalls are pressed outwardly at 26 and scored at 28 to form a thickenedhandle of improved and the forward edge of the handle is indented at llto receive the middle finger of the operator, the trigger 15 finger, ofcourse, being placed in front of the trigger '1. Additional projections32,", and 38 are formed on the side walls of the barrel por-' tion inorder to improve the realistic appearance ofthetoy,andalargerectangularareaisdisso placed outwardly at ll to increase the noise produced bythe toy, as will be explained subsequently. The motor M is a springmotor, and includes a suitable preferably square winding stem'll con- 25nectedto the inner end of a suitable spiral ribbon spring 42, the outerend of thespring being connected to the frame F at 44. The outer orprojecting end of this winding stem is adapted to receive a winding key,the latter being so conso structed that-the stun needs to project fromthe pistol body by only a slight amount. Winding stem ll is connectedthrough suitable ratchet mechanism It with a main driving gear II. Thisgear meshes with a pinion I. mounted on a shaft 35 i2andfixedtoasearllmeshingwithapinion 5tsecuredtoagearllmeshingwithapinion mounted on a spindle II. The spindleI! is thus rotated at high'speed at the end of the step-up gear train.This spindle carries an abra- 40 sive wheel M mounted immediatelyadjacent the muzzle opening 22, the top of the wheel 04 being alignedwith the center of muasie opening 22, as will be apparent frominspection of Fig. 2.

'lhesparkingmechanismsiscompletedbya 4i pyrophoric element It which, forconvenience, will bereferredto asaflint. l lintlaisflxedatits pper endin the forward or'freely movable end 88 of a suitable arm ll formed ofsheet'metal. Therear endofarm'llisreducedtoforma tongue 12 which isloosely received in a hole ll (Fig. 3) at the topofthe motor frame F.The

' away above the flint arm II for access tothe flint,

window ilt,thusaifordingreadyegres disposed .is provided with slotsfreelyina loose and self-adjustablernanner camismountedonthisouterend,asisbest which greatly prolongs the operating life of theshown in Pig. 3. The leading end I" of the cam flint. This constructionalso makes it possible an amount suflicient to to produce an abrasivewheel manner, for it may be relatively coarse curate without damagingthe flint.

in the position shown in Pics. 2-and 3. Continued ,Theinturnedfiangesltofthecasingare cut rotation of the cam forces the spring an inwardly,that is, toward the motor frame, this being that due to the helicalnature of the cam. The spring is held inwardly until the trailing edgeill of I p the cam reaches and passes the spring I". A ll during oplargepart of the cam is cut away, that is, the

cam has substantially less than one convolution, and as hereillustrated, is approximately only semi-circular. When the trailing edgeIll leaves the spring, the spring is therefore free to move outwardly tostrike the diaphragm It. Behinge for the closure. The forward end of thecause of its large area and freedom for vibration, closure is bentdownwardly at II and provided this diaphragm produces an amplifiedpercussive with a detent projection a: which is received besound. Asthecam rotates, the percussive sound neath the forward edge of the openingwith a is' repeated in rapid succession, so long as the snap engagementwhen the closure is closed. It motor is allowed to run. will beunderstood from inspection of Fig.2, that The entire noise-makingmechanism is so comthe closure It is located a substantial distance pactand advantageously related to the motor above the iiint arm I. in ordernot to interfere that the over-all dimension of the pistol is not withthe desired free movement of the flint arm increased. during operationof the gun. The trigger mechanism T comprises a single To understand therelatively compact and aimpliiied nature of the noise-making mechanism Noutside of frame wall I and plvotally related it may be helpful to firstdescribe the constructhereto by means of a suitable eyelet ill. The tionof frame F. The frame is formed of two lower end of member 2 acts as thetrigger, and pieces of sheet metal, a side it the top and bottom theupper end includes a biased or cam-like brake e 8es of wh h are dancedat i. and an oppo ite surface II! which is disposed immediately adjasidell, the top and bottom edges of which are cent the outwardly projectingend of one of the folded to form the top and bottom walls or spacermotor shafts, preferably the spindle it. The walls ll of the frame.These walls are provided with tongues 92 which pass throuth mating slotsinside wall ,as-is best showninl'ig. 5. The forward and rear endsofasisshowninl'ig.4. ,Itwiilbeunderstoodthefiintarmandfiintarereadilyremovedbypicking the nmeupwardlyorby gun.Completeescapeofthearm eration of the gun is prevented by a suitableclosure". Mwill-beseeninrig.4,therear endoi'closure'ltisprovidedwithoutwardlyproiectingears it whichareanchored beneaththeflangesllofthecasingandwhichoperateasa anchored on member Ill byoppositely facing the side wall 08 are tongues I20 (Figs. 2 and 3), andthe other end of turned outwardly to form vertically disposed which isreceived in a slot I22 (Figs. 3 and 5) M1 st p Th8!!! 6001! P v w I cutat the upper end of the forward spacer wall motorsupporttonguell.Areiativeiylarge area at. spring ill normally pulls the brakesurdlaphragm it made of thin fibre board or the face lit. into a tightwedging engagement with alongside of themotor frame and the spindle t2.Inasmuch as this is a specially throughwhlch tongues It high speedspindle, it is readily stopped by the tong then pass through matingbrake member, slotsinthesideoithecaslngandareturnedout wardly,asisbesttphown' inl'lgs. l and 8. The motor frameis thin moimted on theside it of the casing and is kept inspaced relationtherefrombythespacelsfl. At hEsi -m tima e bearrestedbyastopluglflformedonthemotor resonant sounding diaphra m as is mounted in r m u as,

place. is spaced from the side The sheet metal'member below pivot III isrewall of the film cal l'bm 0f the wl versely bent to U-shaped section,best shown displacement of the relatively large rectangul at ill in Fig.6. This presents a broad, smooth area II previously referred to. Thesaid area 3! surface to the trigger finger even though the trigis p erprovided h a sound d h r ger and brake member are formed integrally of01 Sound a single piece of sheet metal. The closed part of the entiremotor. To start the motor, it is simply necessary to draw the triggerbackwardly, thus moving the brake surface ill downwardly away fromspindle 02. This downward movement may produced whenhiaphragm I isstruck. the U faces forwardly, and the sides of the U fit "The is 8mm byh l! hI- within the sides of the case at the tri ler openmerlll bestshown in Hg. 2. One end of this in; 2|. The arrangement is advantageousbes llrinlisaecul'edtothesidetl oftliem torframc cause the brake memberH2 may be located at by meansof straps ill formed bydisplaclng parts oneside of the motor frame, yet the trigger is of the frame outwardly.other end of the centrally or symmetrically located with respect to leafsprlng'is free. and the spring is so shaped the pistol. A furtheradvantage arises because that thefree end tends normally to move outp ofthe exceedingly compact nature of the present wardly 8. structure. Thedriving spring is shown in Figs.

spring is forced inwardly and released 2 and 3 in its closed or closelycoiled condition. by a suitable cam II. This cam is a helical It shouldbe understood, however, that when the face cam of relatively largeradius, but the opspring is unwound it expands to a dimension eratlon issuch that the spring hammer ill may greater than that of the maindriving gear be disposed near the axis of the cam. The cam l'reeexpansion of the spring increases the operis mounted on the outer end ofintermediate ating time of the motor for a single win motor shaft Itpreviously referred to. This shaft with the trigger construction hereshown, the

is projected through the'frame wall, and the spring may expand until theoutermost convolupiece of sheet metal III (Fig. 2), located on the thusstopping the operation ofbrakemember is normally urged upwardly by, asuitable wire spring ill, one end of which is tions come through thetrigger opening fl and are received within the hollow or open triggersection, as is best shown in Fig. 6.

The pistol casing may, if desired, be ornamented by imitation Jewels.For this purpose the sidev of the handle is indented at I32. Imitationjewels I34 are spaced apart and held in place by a 'cover plate I36.This cover plate is provided with tongues II. which are received throughslots at the top and bottom of the indented portion I32, as is bestshown in Fig. 2. Becauseof the substantial indentation at the area I32,the cover plate comes substantially flush with the side wall of thehandle, and the jewels appear to be set directly into the handle.

It is believed that the construction and operation, as well as the manyadvantages of my improved toy pistol, will be apparent from theforegoing detailed description thereof. The pistol is exceedingly tinyand compact, yet possesses a sturdy, realistic appearance. The operationis surprisingly realistic because of the loud rapidly repeatedpercussive sound produced, and because of the full and copious dischargeof sparks produced immediately at the muzzle end of the gun.

It will be apparent that while I have shown and described my inventionin a preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in thestructure disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the inventiondefined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A toy pistol comprising a small compact pistol body having barrel andhandle portions, a spring motor occupying substantially all of saidbarrel portion and including a train of step-up gearing leading to aspark-producing abrasive wheel at the muzzle of the gun, the shafts ofsaid gear train extending transversely of the pistol barrel, andnoise-making mechanism disposed compactly alongside said motor in saidbarrel portion, said mechanism including a sheet fibre noiseproducingdiaphragm extending generally parallel to and between the side of thespring motor and the side of the barrel portion of the pistol, and meansoperated bysaid motor for repeatedly striking said diaphragm, said meansincluding a cam mounted on one of said shafts.

2. A toy pistol comprising a small compact pistolbody, a spring motorarranged therein, and noise-making m compactly arranged alongside themotor, said mechanism including a relatively large-diameter helical facecam mounted on the outer end of a shaft of the motor, a hammer havingone end secured to the side of said motor and having its other enddisposed behind the aforesaid cam, and a noise-producing diaphragmextending generally parallel to and closely adjacent the frame of thespring motor outside the cam, said hammer being movable in one positionof the cam to strike the diaphragm.

3. A toy pistol comprising a small compact pistol body having barrel andhandle portions, a spring motor arranged in said barrel portion, andnoise-making mechanism compactly arranged alongside the motor, saidmechanism including a relatively large-diameter helical face cam havinga periphery of only a half convolution, said cam being mounted on theouter end of a shaft of the aforesaid motor, a leaf spring hammer havingone end secured to the frame of said spring motor and having anotherportion so disposed as to come behind the aforesaid cam duringrevolution of the cam, said leaf spring passing near the cam shaft andbeyond said and spaced therefrom 3 shaft, and a sheet fibrenoise-producing diaphragm extending generally parallel to the side ofthe spring motor between the cam and'the side of the barrel portion ofthe pistol.

4. A toy pistol comprising a small compact pistol body having barrel andhandle portions, a spring motor arranged in and occupying substantiallyall of the length ,of said barrel portion and including a train ofstep-up gearing leading to a spark-producing abrasive wheel at themuzzle of the gun, and noise-making mechanism compactly arrangedalongside the motor, said mechanism including a relativelylarge-diameter helical face cam mounted on the outer end of anintermediate shaft of the aforesaid step-up gear train, a leaf springhammer having one end secured to the frame of said springmotor andhaving its other end so disposed as to come behind the aforesaid cam,during rotation of the cam, and a sheet fibre noise-producing diaphragmextending generally parallel to and closely adjacent the side of thespring motor between the cam and the sideof the barrel portion of thepistol.

5. A toy pistol having a small compact casing, a spring motor framecomprising spaced parallel sheet metal side walls disposed in the casingand occupying nearly thewhole length thereof,

a spring and train of step-up-gearing-disposed 7 within said springmotor frame, the ends of the frame at one side being bent sidewardly toform spacer members, an extensive sound-producing diaphragm arrangedcollateral to the side of the motor frame and spaced therefrom by theaforesaid spacer members, the side wall of the pistol casing beingspaced from said diaphragm, a cam mounted on one of the motor shafts,and a hammer movable by said cam to strike the aforesaid diaphragm.

6. A toy pistol having a small compact casing, a spring motor framecomprising spaced parallel sheet metal side walls disposed in thecasing, a

' spring and train of step-up gearing disposed within said spring motorframe, the ends of the frame at one side being bent sidewardly to formspacer members and tongues passing through mating slots in the side ofthe pistol casing, an extensive fibre sound-producing diaphragm arrangedparallel to the side of the motor frame by the aforesaid spacer members,the side wall of the pistol casing within said tongues being displacedoutwardly at said diaphragm and having a sound discharge opening, a cammounted on one of the motor shafts, and a hammer movable by said cam tostrike the aforesaid diaphragm.

7. A small compact toy pistol having barrel and handle portionsresembling an automatic pistol, a spring motor frame comprising spacedparallel. sheet metal side walls disposed in and occupying substantiallyall of the length of the barrel por-. tion of the pistol, a sp and trainof step-up gearing and sparking mechanism disposed within said springmotor frame, the ends of the frame at one side being bent sidewardly toform spacer members and tongues passing through mating slots in the sideof the pistol barrel, an extensive moving the trigge brake end intobraking shaft.

leading to a spark-producing abrasive wheel at rel and handle anismdisposed at the side of the motor between the motor and the side of thebarrel. and trigger spaced parall mechanism for controlling theoperation of the pistol. said trigger mechanism including a single pieceof sheet metal pivoted at one side or the motor and having a dependingportion bent to trigger shape and a forwardly extending portion having abrake end disposed immediately adiacent the outwardly projecting end ofthe shaft of the aforesaid abrasive wheel; and resilient means normallymoving the trigger to forward position and the brake end into brakingengagement with the shaft.

10. A toy pistol of small dimension. including a spring motor with adriving spring. and a trigger for controlling the operation of saidspring motor, said trigger being formed of sheet metal bent to U-shapedsection, with the open part of the u directed rearwardly. thearrangement being such that the spring when fully unwound may expanduntil its outermost convolutions are received within the open portion ofthe aforesaid trigger member.

11. A toy pistol of small dimension having barportions resembling apistol of the automatic type, said pistol including a spring motorarranged in-the barrel of the pistol with the driving spring at the rearend thereof, sparking and noise-making mechanisms driven by said springmotor, and a trigger for controlling the operation of said spring motor.said trigger being formed of sheet metal bent to U-shaped section, withthe open part of the U directed rearwardly and disposed at the junctionof the handle and barrel portions of the pistol, the arrangement beingsuch that the spring when fully unwound may expand until its outermostconvolutions are received within the open rear portion of the aforesaidtrigger member.

- portions, a spring motor 12. A toy pistol comprising barrel and handledisposed in the barrel portion and including a train of step-up gearingleading to a high speed shaft, and trigger mechanism for controlling theoperation of the pistol, said trigger m including a single piece orsheet metal pivoted at one side of the motor and having a dependingportion bent to U-shape and a "forwardly extending portion having abrake end immediately adjacent the high speed shaft. and resilient meansnormally moving the end into withtheshafhthetriggerbeingsodisposedthatbraking engagem t mechanism ing anabrasive wheel anda pyrophoric elementresting loosely thereagainst. means to rotate said abrasive'wheei athigh speed in'gadrivingspringandatr ainofstep-up gearsheet metal securedtogether in edge to edge relation by appropriate tongue and slotconnections, a rotatable abrasive wheel in said pistol body near themuzzle thereof, a motor for driving said abrasive wheel, a pyrophoricelement disposed over the abrasive wheel forcausing a showerof sparkstobe discharged at the muzzle of the gun, and an opening with anopenable closure therefor disposed over the pyrophoric element foraccess thereto, the adjacent edges being cut away to form the openingand being wardly and provided with of the halves of the casing furtheroutwardly notched at one end of said opening, the closure havingoutwardly projecting lugs at one end thereof, said lugsbeing disposedinside the casing at the aforesaid notches, whereby the closure ispivotaliy mounted on the casing, the forward end of said closure beingbent downa an outwardly struck detent adapted to hold the closure inclosed position.

